Return From A Nightmare
by Soldier's Shadow
Summary: POST RE4 Leon returns from his mission to Spain and goes to meet his old friend Claire Redfield. Upon seeing Leon again, Claire notices something has changed about him. Slight Leon/Claire Mentions of Leon/Ada. First RE fic!


**AN: Welcome Resident Evil fans to my first RE fic (that's not a crossover) ever, '**Return From A Nightmare'**! This fic is angst, just like my previous works in other ****fandoms, so if you're an angst fan then you've found the right place! **

**I hope this fic comes out well, enjoy!**

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Standing in the center of a large of crowd of people was Claire Redfield, one of the few survivors of the infamous Raccoon City incident. The Redfield came here to meet up with a very good friend of hers and a fellow survivor of Raccoon City; Leon Scott Kennedy.

Several days ago Leon had called Claire to tell her he was returning from his mission to Spain where he had to rescue the daughter of President Graham, and to ask her if she'd like to meet up with him sometime. Claire immediately jumped at the opportunity to see her old friend again, the last time she had seen him was before his departure to Spain. There was so many things she wanted to ask him and she was eager to gain answers.

One thing bothered Claire though; while talking to Leon over the phone she got the impression that something was wrong with the Kennedy. During their conversation, Leon had spoken in a low tone and had made sure that the conversation was as brief as possible. Claire just figured Leon was stressed out from his mission.

"_Attention, Flight 07 from Washington D.C has just pulled onto the runway," _the booming voice on the other end of the loudspeaker informed the crowd of people.

"_That must be him," _Claire thought to herself, remembering that Leon had said he'd come see her as soon as his debriefing was over. Claire looked out the window to see a ramp being pulled up to the side of the air liner as soon as it landed. Many of the people that exited the jet looked like some kind of tourist or they were a businessmen and women, chatting on their cellular phones as they exited the plane.

At the end of the line of people was a man wearing a brown bomber jacket and had light brown hair. The man wore an indifferent expression on his face and had his hands buried deep within the pockets of his jacket. Claire smiled at the familiar sight. The Redfield made her way through the crowd of people so she would be able to meet her friend as soon as he entered. As soon as the man stepped through the glass doors and entered the airport, Claire pounced on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Leon!" she greeted the agent jubilantly. "Welcome back!"

Leon Scott Kennedy gave a small smile and returned his friend's embrace. "Hello Claire," he said in a quiet tone. "It's so good to see you again".

"So," Claire began as she pulled herself away from Leon, who quirked an eyebrow in confusion. "Where's my souvenir from your trip?" she asked him with her hands on her hips.

Leon dug through his pockets in search of something he might've brought back from Spain that he could give to Claire as a souvenir, but his search was futile. "Sorry, but I don't have anything for you," the agent apologized sheepishly. "If I knew ahead of time then maybe I-."

"Relax Leon, I was only kidding," Claire interjected with a small giggle. "Now come on," The Redfield grabbed Leon's arm and gave a small tug. "Let's go to the café. This is no place to reconnect".

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The airport's café was relatively crowded today, with many of its tables occupied, most of them by the business people from before. Leon and Claire considered themselves lucky for they were able to find a vacant table.

Claire had left Leon all by himself because she had left to get them some coffee. Leon subconsciously tapped the table with his fingers as he watched the people in the café interact with each other. Though he was seemingly doing nothing, his mind was actually being harassed by horrible memories from his mission. The Kennedy shut his eyes at the flashbacks; the looks of pain and suffering on those people's faces, the blood curdling cries, the-.

"Leon, I got the coffee," Leon's eyes snapped open to see Claire holding out a tray to him with two cups of coffee on it. The Redfield was wearing a soft and kind smile.

"Hmm, oh thank you," Leon stated as he took one of the styrofoam from the tray. He took a small sip from his coffee as he watched Claire take a seat across from him.

Leon's lack of an immediate answer just added to Claire's earlier suspicions of something being wrong with the Kennedy. She was about to ask what was wrong but she decided it'd be best to let him come out with it on his own. "What was President Graham's daughter like?" she asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"She was nice," Leon replied bluntly, not staring at Claire but at his coffee.

"Did you like her?" Claire prodded with a playful smirk on her lips. "_Maybe this is what's bothering him"._

Leon responded to this with a dry laugh. "Sorry but she's a bit too young to my liking. I like her but not in that way," the Kennedy took another sip from his coffee before letting out a sigh. "She's one tough cookie; I'm surprised that she was able to keep her sanity after going through all of that".

Claire nodded and stirred her coffee. "How was Spain? Was it anything like how people make it out to be?"

Leon didn't instantly answer her question. He looked away from Claire. "No it was far from what anybody made it out to be," Leon stated, his tone containing a small hint of anger.

Claire tilted her head in order to catch a glimpse of Leon's facial expression. When she got a good look of him, she saw that he was wearing an expression similar to the one that her brother Chris would wear whenever he was distressed about something. She reached over the table and put a comforting hand on Leon's shoulder. "Are you all right Leon?"

"I'm fine," Leon assured the Redfield as he stood up from his seat. The agent took his jacket off the back of his chair and pulled it over his shoulders. "I'm sorry Claire but I've got to go".

"No you don't, there's something you're not telling me," The Redfield stated expressing her concern. Leon just grunted and continued walking. Claire rose up from her seat and grabbed Leon's shoulders before turning him around to face her. "You're not leaving until you tell me what's the matter with you," she spoke sternly, her eyes interlocked with Leon's.

Leon gritted his teeth in frustration and pulled away from Claire's grip. "I already told you, nothing is wrong with me!"

Claire wasn't one to give up so easily though. "Don't lie to me; I know there's something wrong with you!" The Redfield shot back, her voice resembling that of a mother who was trying to pry a secret out of her child. "Leon ignored her and continued his brisk walk. Claire gave chase and when she got close enough she stood in front of Leon to stop him from getting away without first telling her what was causing him distress. "You can tell me Leon, we're friends".

Leon sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Claire's persistence got the better of him and he dropped his shoulders before looking up to Claire. "All right, you win," he stated as he slowly made his way back to the table that they were previously sitting at and took a seat, Claire did the same. Leon took a deep breath before starting his story. "Spain was not exactly a joyride. There was no beautiful scenery, no Barcelona or Madrid, just some hell hole village whose inhabitants were all being corrupted by some parasite known as Las Plagas. They were forced against their will to become monsters and I was forced to kill them, each and every one of them that attempted to impede the progress of my mission," Leon folded his hands and sighed. "I felt horrible killing those people, they didn't ask for any of that crap so in all essence I was taking the lives of innocent people."

Claire felt her heart ache as Leon explained what happened in Spain to her. She knew that Leon had always wanted to protect innocents and being forced to go against his ways must've been horrible for the agent. She was about to tell him he could stop but he continued before she could stop him.

"Then _she _reappeared into my life," Leon stated to Claire, who was confused as to who the Kennedy was talking about. "Ada was there too. She wasn't there to catch up with me or to help me, she was there to fulfill her master's whim. She was working with Albert Wesker to take Las Plagas for God only knows what. I wanted so badly to protect her, to take her away from the evils of Umbrella but now she's back with Wesker as his personal lap dog," Leon spoke bitterly of the woman who he cared alot for with during the events of Raccoon City. The Kennedy found it hard to continue his story, not wanting to remember any of the horrors from his mission, but he forced himself to. "You remember Jack Krauser, my old partner who I told you died several years ago? Claire nodded, remembering when Leon had told her of Krauser and how he supposedly died in a helicopter crash. "He was there too. He was another puppet of Las Plagas and I was forced to kill him too".

"Leon, I-," Claire began, about to tell him she understood what he meant, but once again Leon continued without listening to her.

"Now you know why I'm the way I am lately; I was forced to go on a mission to rescue an innocent girl by slaughtering innocent people and friends, while at the same time suffering heart ache by seeing someone you care for doing wrong deeds and not being able to do a damn thing about it!" Leon voiced his distress to Claire, his tone rising a bit. "It was horrible, I was forced to go against everything I stood for. I feel like a monster!" Leon closed his eyes and turned away from Claire, his arms crossed. "I guess I'm on thier level now".

Claire felt the urge to cry to after hearing about all the horrors her best friend had to go through. Leon was always so cool, calm and collected, it pained her to see him in this way. She stood up from her seat and walked over to Leon and put her hand on his shoulder. "Leon, you're not a monster. If anything you're a hero to those people because you freed them from their living nightmare. You saved Krauser too by doing what you had to do".

Leon opened his eyes to the Redfield and gave her a sharp look. "Don't glorify my sins".

Claire just smiled sadly at the Kennedy. "I'm not glorifying anything; I'm just speaking the truth. As for Ada, you never know with her, she's an enigma. She could be playing Wesker without him even knowing it".

Leon's face lit up a bit at what Claire just said. "An enigma; that sounds just like her," Leon said with a faint smile on his face. Leon stood up from his seat beside Claire. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. After a few seconds he crascked a small smile. "I think you're right, Claire. I did help those people. If I didn't they probably would've suffered much worse."

Claire smiled at Leon's revelation and rewarded him by pulling the Kennedy into a hug. Leon reciprocated by returning her hug. "Thanks a lot Claire," he spoke into her hair as he held her tight.

After a few more seconds, Claire and Leon parted and looked to see that there were some people staring at them strangely. Claire turned to Leon and grasped his hand. "What do you say we go back to my place, where there isn't so many people around".

Leon smiled and nodded. "I think so".

With that, Kennedy and Redfield exited the airport and headed to Claire's house. Claire who just cured Leon of his distress and Leon who's been pulled out of a nightmare, his old self intact and his soul saved from possible future trauma.

The nightmare's over but everything returns at one point or another. Leon, with Claire by his side, is prepared and ready to confront it any time it was to return.

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**AN: Okay what did you guys think? Other than the horrible ending, I think this fic came out pretty well.**

**Though I'm an Albert Wesker fan, I have to say that Leon and Claire are up there on my favorite RE characters list. The mention of Leon/Ada is there because I'm ****a Leon/Ada supporter, but I still like Leon/Claire. In the future I'll make a few fics starring these two pairings. **

**For those of you who were oblivious as to what was wrong with Leon; he had a bit of post traumatic stress disorder. (PTSD)**

**Please leave a review! I'll respond to any and all reviews.**

**The Big Boss**


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